Digital Portfolio - Multimedia Workshop 2008

Concept Mapping

• Bubbl.US - Create, share and save colorful mind maps online. This is a very kid-oriented site that would be easy and fun to use in an elementary classroom to make brainstorming and/or graphic organization fun! This is an example of a concept map that I created:
• FreeMind - This is not a tool that I would choose to use in my classroom. It is not as user-friendly as other sites I have visited. The help function on this site is very informative, however, you would need to thoroughly learn the program before using it with your class. Here is an example of a graphic organizer created in FreeMind:
  

• Mindomo - Create, edit and share mind maps. This would be a great tool for creating concept maps or graphic organizers in class. However, I think that the complexity of the site makes if more appropriate for an older child or adult rather than an elementary student.
• Stixy - This is by far one of my favorite sites. It is a digital corkboard that allows you to stick pictures and notes up for viewing. Students would love to have this type of media to use to organize thoughts and projects. Here is a collage that I am working on of my French Mastiff, Lurch.

Word Processing

• Google Docs- This word processing tool is wonderful in the fact that students can access their assignments from anyplace at anytime. It would be a great tool to use with a group project where students have individual parts of the whole to accomplish at home over a period of time. It could potentially eliminate forgotten homework! This is a presentation that I created in Google Docs.

• Zoho Writer- This is another word processing tool that students can access from any computer at school or home. I love the smiley's you can add to your documents. The feature to easily switch between tools is nice also.

Rubric Creators

• Rubistar - Create quality rubrics. This looks like a useful tool for creating rubrics to grade class projects.

Learning Tools

• Invention at Play - This site allows students to "play" with various sites at the Smithsonian Museum focused on inventions and innovations. I love this site. It allows children to do so many things. There is a feature under word play that allows students to "create" a story with each other by adding various parts to it. This could be a collaborative story with students in other state or even countries!
• iTools- A site containing a variety of tools for Internet users including web search tools, research tools, financial tools, maps and driving directions. (Great for those of us who find ourselves "directionally challenged"!) It also has a dictionary to help when you are in a bind on spelling a word.
• Stellarium - A down-loadable planetarium program for the computer that shows a 3-D sky. A very cool site that allows students to explore the stars!
• Atlapedia - A neat site that allows you to download maps for classroom use.
  

Content Sharing

• Flickr- An online site that organizes, shares, and finds photos. I had trouble getting on this site, but hope to experiment with it in the future.
• Picasa - An online site that allows free sharing of photos.
• Rockyou - A great site for music and photo sharing.
• Scrapblog - A great site to create scrapbook pages.
  

Fun Sites

• glassgiant - A very cool site that allows you to upload photos and make fun pictures. Students would love to explore on this site! Here are a couple of examples of some of the fun things you can do.
  

• The Generator Blog or Fodey - This is a site that allows you to upload and manipulate photos. A very fun site! Here is an example:

Education Videos

• You Tube - Share video with students and friends. Look for educational support clips to use in instruction.
• Teacher Tube - An online community for sharing instructional teacher videos, lesson plans and students videos within the teaching community.
• Voice Thread- Group conversations around images, docs and videos